Movie review - "The Bank" (2001) **

Unsatisfying thriller which feels too familiar. David Wenham joins a bank as a computer whiz to help beat the stock market - an element used in Pi. There is a final reveal a la Once Upon a Time in the West (farm suicide in the woolshed... come on), and a subplot involving the Swiss francs case that they used in The Farm. The film feels like lazy populism. Wenham's enigmatic character is necessitated by the plot but means we have no one to invest emotion in. The couple whose kid dies are more effective, and well acted - but did the bank have to be so evil? I mean, they act like Dr Evil, with glowering Anthony La Paglia being totally evil - he and his henchmen laughing about sacking people and dead children, evil process server Vincent Ward. Banks can be pricks but their evil happens in broad daylight in front of everyone. The film looks a treat, though - incredibly stylish. Sybilla Budd is gorgeous as the love interest.